Crime and Victimology

Victim of violence Victimology and Criminology Measuring Rates of Victimization Trends in Crime

-Victim of violenceCases that received wide media attention for specific reasons include the following. Murdered child (caylee anthony case)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20253947,00.html

2 year old Caylee Anthony

caylee anthony case

On December 11, 2008, a utility worker found the skeletonized remains of Caylee Anthony in a black plastic bag about a quarter-mile from the Anthony home off the highway. Prosecutors then charged Casey Anthony with first-degree murder.

caylee anthony case

http://snarkfood.com/bombshell-twist-in-caylee-anthony-case/31570

Photos from the site where remains found thought to be Caylee Anthony

HOWard beacH case

http://www.queenstribune.com/anniversary2003/howardbeach.htm

More than 5,000 angry protestors marched through the streets of Howard Beach, carrying signs and chanting ...This is not Johannesberg.

HOWard beacH case

Lester was convicted of manslaughter and assault for CHASING Michael Griffith, a 23 year old construction worker. The description of coldblooded violence was the basis for Lesters 1530-year prison sentence, later shortened by law to 20 years. Two other Howard Beach teenagers, Jason Ladone and Scott Kern, got similar sentences. Lester was released in 2001, 15 years after the killing and was deported to England, Ladone was released in April 2001 and Kern was released in 2002

HOWard beacH case

http://www.queenstribune.com/anniversary2003/howardbeach.htm

Jon Lester exits a Queens courthouse during trial

carrOll edWard cOle case

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/edward_cole/9.html

Carroll Edward Cole testifies at Dallas trial

carrOll edWard cOle case

The important point of this case is how the early warning signs of a violent youth were missed. A careful investigation was not conducted on the death of Duane nor was a thorough interview of Cole held. Background information on Cole had added red flags of the child abuse, child witnessing of sexual violence, the absent father, and the social isolation of the boy.

carrOll edWard cOle case

http://skcentral.com/articles.php?article_id=254

Carroll Edward Cole's first murder, when nine years old, was dismissed as an accident.

cOVINa Massacre( brUce Jeffrey pardo case)

http://www.inquisitr.com/13264/man-dressed-as-santa-claus-kills-at-least-threeat-la-christmas-party/

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

cOVINa Massacre( brUce Jeffrey pardo case)

On Christmas Eve 2008, the newly divorced husband of their daughter, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, arrived at the home of Joseph and Alicia Ortega dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He opened fire and killed nine people inside the house, including the elder Ortegas, his ex-wife Sylvia, three of their children, two daughters in law, and a teenager who was working at a computer.

-Victimology and criminologyCriminology is the study of crime as a social phenomenon. Edwin H. Sutherland (1947) defined the objectives of criminology as the development of general and verified principles and knowledge regarding the process of law, crime and treatment of prevention.

--Victimology and criminology In contrast, victimology is the study of the victim, including the offender and society. Victimology is a social-structural way of viewing crime and the law and the criminal and the victim.

-Victimology and criminologyHistorically, victimology was a branch of criminology, and as such the early criminologists and victimologists focused their analysis and writing on typologies of crime victims, assessing the ways in which a victim may contribute, knowingly or unknowingly, to his or her own victimization.

-Measuring Rates of VictimizationMeasuring the extent of victimization is a goal of researchers. Statistics assist policy makers and those who provide victim services. However, there is no one single way to define, classify, and measure domains of violent events because each counting system involves some evaluation of peoples observations and reports of what they perceive as violent events.

-Measuring Rates of VictimizationThere are three nationwide (USA) measurement systems that count and classify crime: Official reports of law enforcement departments Surveys that ask people about offenses they have committed Surveys that ask people about victimizing experiences

-Measuring Rates of Victimization* Uniform Crime Report For events that police classify as crimes, the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) system collects basic information about the most serious crimes committed. Uniform Crime Reports began recording crime information in 1931 and therefore is one of the oldest systems of crime data collection. This reporting system was designed for the law enforcement community throughout the United States. The task of implementing the directive went to the FBI.

-Measuring Rates of Victimization* Victimization Surveys Victimization surveys are interviews with a random sample of people to ask if they have ever been a victim of a crime. Hindelang (1976) described the development of surveys wi8th stages or generations. Each stage sought to improve the methodology by identifying problems in an earlier stage.

 Stage 1: Presidents Commission on Crime in mid1960: This survey was a pilot to test the feasibility of counting crime victims. Stage 2: National Opinion Research CENTER (NORC): This survey targeted 10,000 households and asked persons to report on incidents in the past year.

* Second-Generation Victimization Surveys The second-generation surveys sought to correct the problems identified in the first-generation surveys and involved several methods. * Record checks: This method sought to compare information from police records with victimization survey data. * Reverse record check: This check was done by locating crime victims names in police files and contacting them and administering a victim survey.

* Forward record check: This check was accomplished by asking people in a victim survey if they had contacted police about the incident.

* Third-Generation Victimization Surveys

The National Crime Survey(NCS) was initiated in 1972 with a probability sample of 72,000 households. The plan called for interviews with each member of the household. Households were to be contacted every 6 months for a total of seven interviews. Many of the concerns identified in the first and second-generation surveys were address and corrected in this stage.

* Fourth-Generation National Crime Victimization Survey Concerns were again addressed about wording, bounding, memory decay, and telescoping for the fourth-generation surveys. Redesign efforts were made to address the questionnaire and the data collection procedures. The results of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate improve data regarding victim offender relationships when a crime was a nonstranger type.

Difficulties in Measurement The task of describing the national pattern of violence from the various reporting systems is complicated by the fact that they differ in terms of (1) the domain of events that they attempt to capture, (2) the unit of count on which their statistics are based, (3) the timing of the counting and tabulation, and (4) the sources of discretion and error in recording the events. These differences are described as difficulties in recall, telescoping, and bounding.

* Recall The NCVS uses a 6-month reference period. Respondents are asked to report crime experiences that occured in the last 6 months. * Telescoping Telescoping refers to a respondents misspecification of when an incident occurred in relation to the reference period.

 Bounding Bounding is achieved by comparing incidents reported in an interview with incidents reported in a previous interview and deleting duplicate incidents that were reported in the current reference period.

-Trends in CrimeCrime in the United States is a significant criminal justice and public health problem, and despite a declining crime rate during the past 2 decades, the serious nature of homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, domestic violence, burglary, larceny-theft, carjacking, and motor vehicle theft impact millions of victims and their families each year.

-Trends in CrimeViolent crime trends reported for 1990 included the following: The violent crime victimization rate was higher for men, theft victimization was higher for men than for women, and the highest rate of violent victimization for any age group targeted those younger than age 25 years.

-Trends in CrimeStatistics also revealed that as individuals age, crime rate victimization decreased, and race did not differentiate for victimization rates of simple assault and personal theft. Overall, violent crime, robbery, and aggravated assault victimization rates did differ by race; the highest violent crime victimization rates based on economic range existed for those earning less than $7500 annually, and those least at risk were member of households with an annual income above $25,000.

-Trends in CrimeIndividuals with only an elementary school education experienced the highest rates of crime victimization, and persons with college education experienced the lowest rates.

-Trends in CrimeAccording to the 23-year summary report of the extent and nature of criminal victimizations from 1973 to 1995, the rate of victimization dropped to its lowest level in 1995. In general, this pattern of decreasing rates occurred for personal and household crimes for many of the years over the 1973 to 1995 time frame.

-Trends in CrimeThe NCVS reported that an estimated 2.9 million serious nonfatal violent victimizations occurred in 1990(nonfatal violent crimes include rape, robbery, and violent assault). Internationally, this rate ranked among the worlds highest levels. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the decline in the total violent crime rate from 1993 to 1995 was the largest single-year decrease ever measured.

-Trends in CrimeThe total rate of violent crime from 1973 to 1990 decreased 9.2%, though an analysis of year-to-year trends from 1973 to 1990 reveals no specific pattern but rather a few declines accompanied by steady increases and stable rates in total violent crime. The sharpest year-toyear reduction in crime actually occurred between 1994 and 1995 (BJS, 1997a).

-Trends in CrimeFrom 1995 to 1996, the violent crime rate declined 10%, continuing the downward trend from 1994 (BJS, 1997b). Criminal victimization rates for US residents older than the age of 12 years declined 12.4% (to 44.5 per 1000 individuals) in 1995. Overall, personal crime fell 13% (to 46.2% per 1000 individuals) from the 1994 level (BJS, 1997b).

-Trends in CrimeViolent Offenses: Subgroup Statistics The NCVS results have supported the finding that criminal victimization rates do not occur at the same rate across subgroups of the population. Differential rates are found on the basis of race, age and gender, reflecting both bias and vulnerability.

-Trends in Crime* Race

Race is an important differentiating factor in rates of victimization. For example, the statistics show that violent victimization rates for murder involve ethnic minority males in urban areas to a greater extent than white males.

-Trends in Crime* Age

Although teenagers and young adults are more likely than older adults to be murdered, three-fourths of all murder victims are aged 24 years or older when they are killed.

-Trends in Crime* Gender

Overall violent crime rates declined from 1994 to 1995 both for men (10.7% decline) and women (14.4% decline). Women have approximately one-third the risk of men being murdered, but women are four times as likely as men to be killed by a spouse or intimate partner.